Circular knitting machine



April 0, 1943. P. L. THURSTON v 2,316,823

QIRCULAR'KNITTING MACi-HNE rina F 15.- v19.1942 -9' Sheets-Sheet 1 April20, 1943. p THURSTQN I 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE FiledvFeb. 19, 1942 9 Sheets-Sheet I INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY April 20, 1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1942 9 Sheets-Sheet 3 oATTCRNEY April 20, "1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 194-2 9 Sheets-Sheet 4 April20, 1943. I TQN 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 194 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 NVENTORATTORNEY April 20, 1943. P. L. THURSTON 2,316,823

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE ATTORNEY P. L. THURSTON QIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINE April 20, 1943.

Fi ed Feb. 19, 1942 9 S1uetS-Sheet 7 Jwnwrak A ril 26, 1943 P. L.THURSTON 2,316,823

' CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Patented Apr. 20, 1943 CIRCULAR KNITTINGMACHINE Paul L. Thurston, Martinsburg, W. Va., assignor to InterwovenStocking Company, New Brunswick, N. J., a. corporation of New JerseyApplication February 19, 1942, Serial No. 431,519

9 Claims.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described,reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate anembodiment of the same, selected by me for the purpose of illustrationand the said invention is fully disclosed in the following descriptionand claims.

My invention relates to circular knitting machines having coaxialsuperposed needle cylinders with selector mechanism for transferringselected needles from one cylinder to the other and pertainsparticularly to improvements in circular knitting machines of the kinddescribed and claimed in co-pending application Serial No. 374,334,filed January 14, 1941.

In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, the needles are actuated by sliders located in the needleslots of the upper and lower cylinders and provided with knitting buttsacted upon by cams for actuating the needles to draw stitches andtransfer butts acted upon by cams to effect the transfer of needles fromone cylinder to the other. In order to carry out the desired operations,it is customary to provide butts of different lengths. For example, inan opposed cylinder machine for knitting men's hose. the sliders on oneside of the lower-cylinder corresponding to the needles producing theheel and toe pockets, are provided with short knitting butts and thesliders on the opposite side of the lower cylinder are provided withlong knitting butts. sliders corresponding to the short knitting buttlower cylinder sliders hav long transfer butts and the upper cylindersliders corresponding to long The upper cylinder knitting butt lowercylinder sliders have short transfer butts. To produce an article ofhosiery having the usual 1 x 1 rib knit top portion or having ananti-ravel edge requiring alternate needles in the upper cylinder, ithas been customary to provide alternate lower cylinder sliders with longtransfer butts and the intermediate lower cylinder sliders with shorttransfer butts in order that alternate needles may be transferred to theupper cylinder by a cam engaging the long transfer butts but notengaging the short transfer butts.

In accordance with the above mentioned application, Serial No. 374,334,provision is made for selectively transferring needles from one cylinderto the other by means of a plurality of separately controlled sets ofselector levers acting on selectors associated with the needles and forby-passing selected lowercylinder needles at at least one feed of amulti-feed machine to produce fabrics and articles of novel design. Theselective bypassing of lower cylinder needles is effected by cams actingon the transfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders; the said buttsbeing made of different lengths'to provide the desired selection. Thisuse of the'transfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders to by-passselected needles to obtain a decorative design precludes their use fortransferring alternate needles or groups of needles to theupper'cylinder for the purpose of producing an anti-ravel edge or 1 xlor other rib knit fabric. It is hence necessary to control theselective transfer of needles from one cylinder to the other by means ofthe selector levers, one set of levers beingused for each type of ribfabric or other patterns desired and separate control mechanism beingprovided for individually controlling each set of levers.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved knittingmachine of simpler construction and operation. In accordance with myinvention one set of selector levers is employed to obtain a pluralityof different patterns or types of fabric. For example, in making a sockhaving a tubular welt or other anti-ravel structure requiring alternateneedles in the upper cylinder, rib knit tops other than 1 x 1 rib, forexample, a top formed of 2 x 2 rib fabric requiring a needle selectiondifferent from that required for the anti-revel edge, and a Links-Linksfloat-thread leg portion, one set of selector levers is employed toproduce the Links-Links leg portion and a single set of selector leversis employed to obtain both thel x 1 selection for the anti-rave] edgeand the 2 x 2 or other selections required for the rib knit top portion.By thus making it possible to obtain with a single set of selectorlevers a plurality of different needle selections, 'each of which ismaintained for a protracted period of time as for example, in producinga tubular welt or a rib knit top portion, the construction and operationof the machine is greatly simplified, making the machine less expensiveto build and easier to keep in proper running order. As machines of theopposed cylinder type are at best rather complicated, the simplificationachieved by the present invention represents a distinct advance in theart.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be more fullyunderstood from thefollowing description of an embodiment thereof shownby way of example in the in which i Fig. 1 is a front elevation of aportion of a knitaccompanying drawings,

ting machine in accordance with the invention,

certain details being clearness.

Fig. 2 is a schematic elevational view showing omitted for the sake ofmechanism for operating shunt cams in the upper Fig. 6 is a detailedperspective view of a portion of the mechanism shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front elevational view showing a portion of themechanism operating and controlling the selector pattern drum appearingnear the top of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 88 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of the machine with portionsbroken away.

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 are horizontal sectional views taken on thelines llil0, l|-- -Il, 2--|2 and l3-i3 in Fig. 7.

, Fig. 14 is avertical sectional view on the'line i4-i4 in Fig. 9. r i

Fig. 15 is. an inside view of the cam blocks spread out in a planeshowing alternate needles in the upper cylinder and includingat theright fer butts 32 of the sliders in the upper cylinder are ordinarilyof different lengths, short transfer butts being provided over the longknitting butts in the lower cylinder and long transfer butts beingprovided in the upper cylinder over the short knitting butts in thelower cylinder.

Theneedles indicated at 40 are each provided with the usual hooks 4i andlatch at each end.

A -When the needles are in the lower'cylinder, their hand side of Fig.15 a diagrammatic side view of the needles, sliders and selectors. Figs.15a and 15b are fragmentary views showing alternative cam arrangements.

Fig. 16 is a view similar to Fig. 15 showing.

alternate pairs of needles in the upper cylinder for producing 2 x 2 ribfabric.-

Fig. 17 is a view similar to the upper part of Fig. 15 showing anarrangement of selector butts for producing the article of hosieryillustrated in Fig. 19. V I

Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig.. 15 showing the production ofLinks-Links float thread fabric.

produced in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 20 shows diagrammatically a-section of the leg portion of the sockshown in Fig. 19.

In Figs. 1 to 18 of the drawings, there is shown so much of a knittingmachine as is necessary to illustrate the present invention. Withreference particularly to Figs. 1 and 15, the numeral 20 represents thelower knitting cylinder provided with vertically movable sliders 2!,located in the grooves thereof, and having transfer butts '22 andknitting butts 23 for engaging suitable cams on the cam ring indicatedat 24, each of the sliders 2i being provided at its upper end withaterminal portion comprising a needle .-engaging hook 25 and alatchengaging extension sliders constituting approximating one-half thecircular series hereof will have. short knitting butts for operating theneedles during reciprocating work'in knitting the heel and toe pockets,while the remaining sliders'will have long knitting butts. A greaternumber of different lengths V of knitting butts may be provided ifdesired.

The upper needle cylinder is provided with a series of sliders 3|engaging the grooves thereof and having transfer butts 32 and knittingbutts 33 for engaging cams in the upper cam ring 34. The sliders of theupper cylinder are eachprovided at their lower ends with a terminalportion comprising a needle engaging hook 35, and a latch engagingextension 36 for engaging the upper ends of the needles when they aretransferred to the upper cylinder. The trans- .Fig. 19 is a side view ofan article ofhosiery the fabric.

lower hooks will engage the hooks 25 of the corresponding sliders 2i andthe extensions 26 will engage the lower latches so that the needles willbe operated by and with the sliders 2|. When all of the needles 40 arein the lower cylinder, the machine produces plain knitting. For theproduction of rib knitting, certainof the needles will be transferred tothe upper cylindenwhereupon their upper hooks will engage with the hooks35 of the upper cylinder sliders 3| sothat the needles will be actuatedby the upper sliders. If the rib knit fabric is to have continuousvertical ribs, the same needles will be operated in the upper cylinderthroughout the knitting of If it is desired to produce Links- Linksfabric, the needlesare transferred back and forth from one cylinder tothe other in predetermined sequence, so that certain needles operate attimes in the upper cylinder and at the other times in the lowercylinder. This results in the wales produced by these needles beingcomposed partly of inwardly facing stitches produced by operation oftheneedles in the upper cylinder, and partly of outwardly facing stitchesproduced by operation of. the needles in the lower cylinder. In certainof the operationsflhereinafter described, thedesired distribution ofneedles transfer of needles from'one cylinder to another,

the expression designates the net result ofthe transferring operationunless otherwise appears from the context. r

Theupper needle cylinder is provided with an extension 42 havingvertically movable selectors '26 for connecting the sliders with suchneedles 43 located in grooves which form continuations of the grooves inthe upper needle cylinder (Figs. 1 and 15). Each of the selectors II hasa leveling butt 43a for bringing all of the selectors to the same levelandone or more selector butts 43b. The selector butts 431) are disposedat different levels, certainselectors havingbutts at one or more levelsand other selectors having butts at other levels. In the arrangementillustrated in the drawings (Fig. 15) there are twelve selector-buttspositioned, numbered 1 to 12 respectively. stood that none of theselectors 43 will ordinarily have selector butts at all twelve levels,but

- at corresponding levels as described more fully below to depress theselected ones of the selectors, and through engagement of the'lower endof the selectors with the upper end of the sliders depress correspondingsliders to effect the transfer of corresponding needles from the upperto the lower cylinder.

The machine in accordance with the invention isprovided with a pluralityof thread feeding stations, two such stations being illustrated in thedrawings. At each of the feeding stations there It will beundera,s1e,eaa are provided suitable thread guides for feeding thethread to the needles, andsuitable tension devices for applying tensionto the thread. There will ordinarily be a plurality of thread guides anda corresponding number of tension devices at each feeding station, butfor the sake of simplicity each station is represented in the drawingsby a single thread guide indicated by a dot in Figs. 15, 16 and 18, oneof the feeding stations hereinafter referred to as the main feedingstation being represented by a thread guide 44 and a second feedingstation being represented by a threadguide 46. Suitable mechanism isprovided for moving the feed fingers into and out of feeding position. I

At the main feeding station the needles in the lower cylinder aremanipulated by a center cam 48 and a main stitch cam 49 adapted toengage the knittingbutts 23 of the sliders 2|. The

stitch cam 49 is movable in a vertical direction to regulate the lengthof stitch drawn by the needle. A similar stitch cam 5i is provided forknitting in a reverse direction when the needle cylinder isreciprocated, as in the formation of the heel, and toe pocket. Thedirection of movement of the needles relative to the cam blocks incontinuous circular knitting is indicated by the arrow at the top ofFig. 15. Following the main feeding station there is provided a stationary clearing cam 52 by-passed by a race-way 53.

- The passage of the knitting butts 23 of the sliders 1 2| through therace-way 53 is controlled by a shunt cam 54 movable into and out ofoperative position. When the shunt cam 54 is in operative position, theknitting butts 23 ride up the. cam and up the space of cam 52, therebyraising the needles to clearing position, i. e., a position in which thepreviously drawn stitch is placed below thezlatch of the needle so thatit will be cast of! when the needle is again drawn down. When the shuntcam 54 is in inoperative position, the knitting butts 23 are by-passedthrough the raceway 53, so that the needles are not raised to clearingposition, and the previously drawn stitches are retained on or above thelatches of the needles.- 1

The movement of the shunt cam 54 into and out of operative position iscontrolled by a twostep cam 55 on cam drum 56 on the main pattern shaft51 by the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In the arrangementillustrated, the shunt cam 54 is provided with a rearwardly extendingprojection 54a which is pivotally connected to a short arm 58, pivotedat its lower end to a bracket 59, provided on the lower cam ring 24. Theupper end of the arm 58 is suit- I ably connected, for example, by aBowden cable 50, to a cam follower 6i adapted to engage the ccntrol'cam55. A compression spring 62 acting on the upper end of the pivoted arm58 tends to move the shunt cam 54 radially inwardly to its operativeposition. When. the cam follower 6| rides up on cam 55' of cam drum 56,the upper end of the pivoted arm 58 is pulled outwardly against theaction of spring 62 to withdraw the shunt cam 54 to inoperativeposition.

The by-passing of knitting butts 23 of sliders 2| through the race-way53 (Fig. is further controlled by a selecting cam 63 which in thearrangement shown, is located approximately below the shunt cam 54 andis adapted to engage the transfer butts 22 of the sliders. In order toobtain a needle selection, the transfer butts 22 of sliders 2| are ofdifferent lengths so that the selecting cam 53 will engage the transferbutts positionto another is controlled from 3 of certainaliders only-LThe transferbutts that engage selecting cam 52 will ride up theface ofthe cam, thereby raising the'sliderssufflciently to. bring the knittingbutts 2301? those, sliders above the race-way 53 and into engagementwith the clearing cam 52 whereby the needles will be raised to clearingposition. Assuming that the shunt cam 54 is in inoperative position, theremaining sliders which are not engaged by selecting cam 63 will not beraised and their knitting butts will be by-passed through. race-way 53.To obtain different" needle selections or to obtain a needle selectionaround one portion only of the needle cylinder as for example inknitting the foot of a sock where it is desired toave a needle selectionfor the instep but not for the sole, the transfer butts 22 aremade-of atle'ast tioned to engage both the'long and the medium transfer butts. 1

In thearrangement shown in the drawings, the radial movement ofselecting cam- 63 from one pattern shaft by the mechanism illustrated inFigs. land 3. The .selecting'ca'm 53 is carried by a radially movableplunger 63a exten'ding'out through the cam ring 24 and having atransverse pin 53b which is acted upon by -a spring 64 tending to movethe cam 83 to" its outer position. Means/for moving the:selecting cam 63to its inner position against the comprises a cam follower 65 support rt65a and having a cam engaging portion 55b.adapted to engage, a two-stepcam 55 on cam drum 56. The cam'follower 65 is connected for example bya' link 61, a crank 58, a shaft 59, a. crank 10 and a link 1 l with abell crank lever 12 pivoted at 12a to "a suitable support on the frameof the machine. 12b of the bell cranklever i2 bea sagainst the outer endof plunger 63a which carries'selecting cam 63. When the cam engagingportion 65b of the cam follower portion 66 on cam drum 56, the free endof the bell crank lever 12 is moved inwardly (to the, I

right in Fig. 3) pushing the cam 63 to its inner position. When the camengaging portion of the cam follower rides off of cam 86, the selectingthe selecting cam 53 is being used, the shunt Q cam 54 will ordinarilybe maintained inincperative position so thatthe knitting butts of the.sliders not raised by the selecting cam 53 will be by-passed throughraceway. When" it is desired to by-pass all of the knitt ng butts 23,the shunt cam'54 is maintained in inoperative posi tion and theselecting cam 83 is disconnected so that it will not engage any of thetransfer butts.

When the shunt cam 54 is, in its, operative po-.

sition, all of the knitting butts will'be caused to ride up the face ofthe clearing cam 52, and the position of selecting cam 63 is henceimmaterial. If desired, the selecting cam 63 my be made to move inwardlyto engage all of the transfer butts so as to cause all of theknittihgbutts to ride up clearing cam 52, whereby the shunt cam 54 isrendered unnecessary. i

At the second feeding station represented by the main 'actionof spring64 pivoted to a suitable ;The free 'end 65 rides-up on the high cam thefeed guide as (Fig. 15), there are provided a draw down cam 13 and astitch cam I4. The draw down cam I3 is movable radially into and out ofoperative position. Thestitchcam ll remains in operative position, butis adjustable vertically to regulate the-length of the stitches drawn bythe needles in the'lower cylinder at the second feed. When the drawdown. cam 13 isgin operative-position,-the knitting butts 23 of thesliders 2| which have been raised by clearing cam 52 ride down the faceof cam. 13 and continue downand under stitch cam 14 causin the needlesto draw a stitch'of the thread receivediat the second feedingstation(Fig. 15). Knitting butts which are by-passedthrough the race -way 53will be drawn down slightly by stitch earn 1! and passunderneath thiscard (Fig. 18).

lt will be notedythat when the knitting butts of the sliders arecausedto ride up over clearing cam 52 either .by reason 'ofthe engagement ofthe knitting butts, withshunt cam 54, or engagementof the transfer buttswith selecting cam 63, the corresponding needles in the lower cylinderare raised high enough to receive the thread fed at. thesecond feedingstation and will draw stitches of this thread when drawn down by camBland stitch cam. H. When the knitting butts are by-passedthroughtherace-way '53,, the corresponding needles-are kept so low thatthey do notreceivethread fed at the second feeding station;(Fig. l8) and retainthestitches of thread drawn at the rnain feeding station.

cam thereisprovided a secondary clearing (cam lfor raising all of theneedles to clearing positionpreparatory to receiving the thread fed atthe mainfeeding station. The lower cam'ring 2411 also provided withatransfer cam 18 adapted to'engage transfer butts 22,.of sliders 2 l.fortransferring all or certain of the needles to the uppercylindernasisusual 'inthe coaxialtype of knitting machine. "As the mechanism foroperatg the transfer cam may be of usual form, it will I not be'furtherdescribed-a I g. b there is shown an alternative arrangement in whichthe single lower transfer cam Y of Fig. i5 is replaced by a transfer cam16aand an associated swivel cam 16b. The transfer cam lower cylindersliders will ordinarily pass below it unless the sliders are raisedbyengagement of the knitting butts with the swivelcam 18b. To transferneedles to the upper cylinden'the lower transfer cam 16a is placed inoperative positionqand the swivel cam 16b is thenmoved injagainsttheshort knitting butts so as to engage the firstof the long knittingbut-ts, where.-

upon the'cam is moved further inwardly to, en-

gage the short knitting butts when again presented. The swivel. camraises the. sliders insufficiently to effect transfer of the needles,but high enough for the-transfer butts to be engaged by transfer camlfiaso that those needles havin a associated therewithtransferbutts ofsuflicient I :length to be engaged by transfer-cam 16a will betransferred to the'upper cylinder. Where referenceis made in .thefollowing description to the'lower transfer cam, it will be understoodthat this may be either thesingle cam 16 of Fig. 15

" or the, transfer cam 16a and associated. swivel cam ,Ilib of Fig.152),

The upper cam ring 34 is provided adjacent the main feeding station 44with a positioning cam 80 adapted to engage the knitting butts of thesliders in the upper cylinder to position the upand the stitch percylinder needles to receive thread fed at the main knitting station anda main stitch cam 81 adapted to engage the knitting butts of the slidersto cause the upper cylinder needles to draw stitches ofthe threadreceived. "Following the feedingstation. Following the descending'cam 82there is provided afsecondpositioning.cam I3" for. raising theneedles'to proper position-to re- Y 16a is located so that. the transferbutts of the ceive thread fed at the'seoond feeding station 46.By-passing the descending cam 82 there is provided an upper race-way 84for the knitting butts of the upper cylinder sliders; The Passage of theknitting butts through race-wayflis controlled by an upper shunt cam 85which is adapted to engage the knitting butts of the slidersand I ismovable radially into and out of operative position. When the shunt .cam85 is in operative position, it blocks offthe race-way 8| causing.

the knitting butts 33 to ride down the face of descendingcam 82. .Whenthe shunt cam 88 is in inoperative position, the knitting butts passthrough race-way 84. It" will be'seentiFig; 16)

that whenshunt cam 85 is in operativeposition to cause the knittingbutts: to ride down the face of descending cam 82 and up cam", theneedles are properly positioned to receive the thread fed :at the secondfeeding station 46. When the upper shunt cam 85 is withdrawn, a1- lowingthe knitting butts to be by-passed through race-way 84,. the needles arekept at a higher level so that they will not take the thread fed at thesecond feedingrstation, and will retain the stitches drawn at the mainfeeding station (Fig. l

Suitable mechanism is provided for moving the upper shunt cam 85 intoand out of operative position, one arrangement of such mechanism I beingshown by way of example in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the arrangement shown, the upper shunt cam 85 1s carriedon the innerend of a radiallymow able plunger 85a, which extends through abushing 88and has at'its outer end a transverse pin" 15b. A spring 85c tends tomove the shuntcam inwardly to operative position. The outer end of, theplunger 85a is straddled by a bifurcated cam a block 81 carried by a.vertically movable spindle 81a, and having inclined camsurfaces'engaging the transverse pin 851). 'A' spring 81b tends to movethe camblock and spindle upwardly. One

endof a rocking lever 88 pivoted at 88a, bears on-- the upper end ofspindle 81a while the other end I of the lever bears .ontheupper end ofaverti cally movable lifter rod 89, the lower end of which is adapted toengage a cam on cam drum 9| carried by the mainpattern shaft 51. Whenthe lifter rod 89 ridesup'on the cam 90, the cam' block 81. carried by,spindle am will be 'moved downwardly and the inclined surfaces of .canr

block 81 .will engage the transverse pin 85b to move upper shunt cam 85radially outwardly to inoperative position. 7

Instead of operating on the knitting butts 33 of the upper sliders 3|,the upper shunt cam may act on the transfer butts 32 as illustrated inthe alternative arrangement shown in Fig. a. The shunt cam in thisfigure is indicated by the numeral 85'. The action and operation of thecam may be the same as heretofore described.

At the second feeding station the upper cam ring 34 is provided with astitch cam 92 adapted to engage the knitting butts of the sliders todraw the upper cylinder needles upwardly, thereby drawing loops ofthread received at the second feed. It will be understood that loops aredrawn by the needles only when the latter have been moved downwardly bydescending cam 82 to position them at a sufliciently low level to takethe thread fed at the second feeding station. When the knitting butts ofthe sliders are by-passed through upper race-way 84, the needles willnot take the second thread and will retain previously drawn stitches ofthread received at the main feeding station. The stitch cam 92 ispreferably vertically adjustable to regulate the amount of thread drawnby the needles at the second feed.

Beyond the stitch cam 92, there is provided a welt or clearing cam 93. I

The upper cam ring is also provided with a transfer cam 94, adapted toengage transfer butts of upper cylinder sliders to transfer needles fromthe upper to the lower cylinder. The upper transfer cam 94 is locatedslightly beyond the lower transfer cam 16 in the direction of travel ofthe needles in order that all or certain of the needles transferred tothe upper cylinder by cam 16 may be retransferred to the lower cylinderbefore reaching the main feeding station. Cam 94 is at such height thatthe transfer butts of the upper cylinder sliders will pass above it asillustrated in Fig. 15, unless the sliders are slightly depressed beforereaching the transfer cam. It is the function of the selectors 43 todepress selected ones of the upper cylinder sliders to causecorresponding needles to be transferredv to the lower cylinder bytransfer cam 94 while other needles remain in the upper cylinder. Insome instances there may be provided an auxiliary transfer cam 95 (Fig.15) which is radially movable into and out of operative position and isadapted to engage the transfer butts of all or certain of the sliders todepress them sufliciently to be engaged by transfer cam 94. Suitablemechanism is provided for moving the auxilliary transfer cam into andout of operative position.

Mechanism for actuating the selectors 43 is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4to 18. At each of the levels corresponding to the levels of selectorbutts 43 there is provided a selector lever I00 having a cam inclineHlfla (Figs. 4 and 5) adapted to engage selector butts disposed at acorresponding level to move associated selectors downwardly. A levelingcam IOI (Fig. 15) located slightly in advance of the selector levers I00engages leveling butts 43a to position all of the selectors at theproper level for engagement of the selector levers with the selectorbutts. Each of the selector levers I00 is pivoted on a vertical shaftI02 and'the end of the selector lever opposite the cam incline IBM isbifurcated to provide a heel portion M1017 and a toe portion lllflc. Aleaf spring I03 engages the heel portion [00b of each selector lever andtends to swing the lever into operative position to engage selectorbutts of the selectors. Movement of the selector levers [00 toinoperative position is effected by a pattern drum H14 havingprojections lMa adapted to engage the toe portion I000 of the selectorlevers to swing the cam inclines of the levers out of the paths of theselector butts. The projections 3411 are prising a ratchet wheel I06mounted on the shaft and a pawl I01 carried by'a pivoted arm I08 adaptedto be engaged by a projection 42a carried on the extension 42 of theupper needle cylinder. The pattern drum is moved forward one step eachrevolution of the cylinder. When the toe portion I000 of a selectorlever rides'up on one of the projections Ill4a on the pattern drum, the

selector lever is swung to inoperative position.

Where there isno projection "34a, the selector lever I00 drops intooperativeposition and engages any selector butts disposed at acorrespending level moving the selectors downwardly to bring thetransfer butts 32 of sliders 3| into engagement with transfer cam 94 andthereby effecting the transfer of corresponding needles to the lowercylinder. The needles associated with selectors which haveno selectorbutts disposed at any of the levels corresponding to the levels ofselector levers in operative position will remain in the upper cylinder.

A feature of the present invention is the control of the pattern drum inconjunction with the independent control of separate sets of selectorlevers to maintain one set of levers. inoperative, while levers ofanother set are moved into and out of operative position throughsuccessive cycles of operation. It will be understood that a pattern setup on the pattern drum will be repeated eachrevolution of the drum. Forexample if every other selector is provided with a selector butt atnumber one level to transfer alternate needles to the lower cylinderwhen the. number one selector lever is in operative position and if thecorresponding row of projections on the pattern drum has one projectionmissing so as to allow the number one selector lever to drop intooperation for one course, then the machine will produce one course of 1x 1 rib knitting at that point in each revolution of the pattern drumwhere there is no projection in the number one level. As a result ofthis repetition of the pattern, the difficulty has been encountered thatif it were at- .tempted, for example, to use one or more of the Iselector levers to obtain a particular needle seinvention by providingmeans for controlling the pattern drum and independently controllingseparate sets of the selector levers. Speaking of sets of selectorlevers, it will be understood that the division of the levers into setsmay be made in any way desired. For example, where there are twelveselector levers, one lever may constitute one set and the other elevenlevers the other set, or the division may be two and ten, three andnine, etc. In the arrangement illustrated by way of example in thedrawings, the levers are shown as being divided into two separate sets.

, pattern drum into two or more the pattern drum as a tern shaft in aclockwise direction as However, itwill be understood that there may bethree or more sets if desired.

The independent control of separate sets of selector levers may beeffected by dividing the sections so that one section of the drum may berotated while another section is held stationary. However, it has beenfound to be more convenient to rotate unit and obtain the independentcontrol by blocking out the levers of one or another set so that theywill not be operated by the projections on the pattern drum. In thearrangement shown in the drawings (Figs. 1, 4, and 6) there is provideda bar I09 for blocking one set of selector levers to maintainthem ininoperative position and a separate bar IIO for blocking another set ofselector levers to maintain them in inoperative position. The upper barI09 is pivoted to swing about a vertical shaft III and is connected by alink H2 to an arm H3 on a vertical shaft Ill. At the, lower end of theshaft I ll there is provided an arm Hi, the outer end of which isadapted to engage a cam IIS on the end face of a drum III on the mainpat- 51 (Figs, 1 and'4). When the arm 0, the shaft Ill is rotated Vviewed in Fig. ipand through link 2, the upper blocking bar I09 beinglikewise swung in a clockwise direction about its pivot shaft I II,'causing the bar to press III rides up on cam is controlled solelybythe selector levers of the upper; set. It is thus possible to produceone section of fabric of a particular structure by using/ the selectorlevers of one set and to produce a subsequent section of fabric ofdifferent structure by using the selector levers of theother set whilemaintaining the first set inoperative.

Cooperatingwith the independent control of separate selector leversthere is provided in acagainst the heel portions I00b of certainselector levers I00, thereby swinging the selector levers to inoperativeposition against the action of spring I03. I r

The lower blocking bar IIO (Figs. 5 and 6) is likewise pivoted aboutvertical shaft I II and has a projecting arm vI I0awhich is engaged byone end-ofa bell crank lever H8 pivoted to a suitable support at II. Theother end of bell crank lever H9 is connected to'a lifter rod II9, thelower end of which the elbow of a bell crank which is pivoted to abracket I2I and the other is adapted to engage a cam I22 on cam'drum 56.Whenthe end of bell crank lever'l20 rides up on a high portion of camI22, the lifter rod H9 will be raised, thereby raising the outer endoibell crank lever H8 and rocking the inner end downwardly and outwardlyagainst the arm IIOa projecting from bar I I0. This will swing the barH0 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 5 against the heelportions 10% of certain of the selector levers I00, thereby maintainingthe selector levers in inoperative position. In the particulararrangement illustrated in Figs. 4 to I09 controls the ten u p r selowerbar IIO controls the However, the number 6 the upper bar lector leverswhile the two lower selectorlevers.

is pivotally connected to lever I20, one end of cordance with myinvention means forcontrolling individual selector. levers ofa set sothat a :plurality of sections of fabric of ture may be produced byselector levers of a single set. This makes it possible to increase thekinds of fabric structure that can be produced by the machine withoutincreasing the number p of separately controlled sets of selector leversrequired. In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the control ofindividual levers of a single set to produce successive sections'ofdifferent fabric structure is jeifected by controlling the pattern drumI04 actuating the selector levers. Re-

ferring to Figs. 1, '7 and 8, it will be seen that the' drivingmechanism for the selector pattern-driun comprises the ratchet wheel I00mounted on the shaft I05 of the drum and actuated by pawl I01,

pivotally carried by arm I08 which is freely 'rotatable on shaft"! andengages a projection 42d on the extension 42 of the needle cylinder sothat the selector pattern drum is moved one step for-' ward-eachrevolution of the needle cylinder." To control the operation of theselector pattern drum I04, there is provided a disc I30 mounted on shaftI05 so as to rotate therewith, the disc being preierably locatedadjacent the ratchet wheel I06.

" The disc in is provided with a plurality of abut ments or recessesshown in the form of two notches N and N2 formed in the periphery of thedisc and adapted to receive the nose lllb of indexing lever I3I freelyrotatable on the shaft I which. controls one set of the selector leversas described above, (Figs. 4 and 6).' When the lever I3I drops into anyof I30, the disc and hence the selector pattern drum are held againstrotation. The notch N is 'so located that when it is engaged by leverIII the pattern drum is in proper position for starting each ofsuccessive articles produced by. the ma chine. Other notches such as N2are positioned to stop the pattern drum at predeterminedpoints; asdescribed more fully below. I

In order to interrupt the driving mechanism of the selectorpattem drumwhen the drumv is held against rotation by lever I'3I, means is providedfor stopping the operation of the pawl I01 and ratchet I00. In theembodiment illustrated in the drawings (Figs; 7, a and 11) thiscomprises a blockinglever I32 freely rotatable on shaft I of leverscontrolled by each bar can be varied at will by varying the relativelengths of the two bars. If it is desired to divide the selector leversinto three or more separately controlled sets, a

corresponding number of blocking bars may be provided.

When the upper set of selector levers is maintained in inoperativeposition by the bar I09, the operation of the selectors and hence thetransfer of needles from the upper to the lower cylinder is controlledsolely by the selector levers of the lower set which may be moved intoand out of operative position by arrangement of the projec tions onpattern drum I04 to give the fabric structure desired. Conversely, whenthe lower set of selector levers is maintained in inoperative positionby bar I I0, the operation of the selectors and adapted to engage pawlI01 and hold the pawl at the end of its stroke (solid line Fig. 111against the action of spring I00a thereby holding arm I08 out away from.the cylinder extension 41 and preventing its actuation by the projection42a. The lever I3I has'an abutment which is preferably adjustable and isshown in the four of a set screw I3,I'a which abuts blocking level I32so that counterclockwise movement of leve-1 -I3I is transmitted to leverI32 and conversely clockwise movement of lever I32 is transmittec toindexing lever I3l. A spring I32d extendini between blocking lever I32and a stationary pos I33 tends to swing lever I32 and hence also leveI3l. When the indexing lever I3I drops into an: of the notches in discI30 under the action 0 the spring, the blocking lever I32 is swung: int

different structhe notches in a position (solid line Fig. 11) to blockthe action of the pawl and ratchet. When lever I3I is swung in acounterclockwise direction to release it from the notch, lever I32 isswung in a counterclockwise direction to the position shown in dottedlines in Fig. 11, permitting the pawl and ratchet to operate to rotatethe pattern drum. It will be understood that after the pattern drum hasbeen released, lever I3I will ride along the periphery of disc I andwill drop into the first notch presented, stopping the rotation of thedrum at a predetermined point determined by the position of the notch.The mechanism for interrupting the rotation of the drum I04 is thuscontrolled by the rotation of the drum itself. The pattern drum is heldin indexed position until released by the withdrawal of indexing leverI3I and blocking lever I32.

The release of the selector pattern drum I04 is controlled by the mainpattern mechanism of the machine and also by the means for independentlycontrolling separate sets of selector levers (Figs. 4 and 6). In theembodiment illustrated a bell crank lever I34 (Figs. 9 and 14) pivotallymounted at I340 on a stationary bracket I has one arm I34a positioned toengage the indexing lever I3I (Fig. 8). The other arm I34b is connectedby a link I36 to the elbow of a bell crank lever I3'I (Figs. 1 and 9),one end of which is pivoted to bracket I2I and the other end is adaptedto engage a cam I38 on the cam drum 56 mounted on the main pattern shaft51. When the elbow lever I3! rides up on cam I38, the link I38 is raisedswinging bell crank lever I34 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 14)and thereby swinging indexing lever I3I in a-counterclockwise direction(Fig. 8) to release it from anotch in disc I30. It will be understoodthat through the abutment of set screw I3Ia the blocking lever I32 islikewise swung in a counterclockwise direction to release pawl I01. Thecam I38 need release lever I 3| from the notch only a sufficient time topermit the drum to be moved one step by the pawl and ratchet as thelever will then ride on the periphery of disc I30 and will hold leverI32 out of the path of the pawl.

In addition to being controlled by the main pattern drum the release ofthe selector pattern drum I04 is also controlled by the meanscontrolling independent sets of selector levers. An arm I mounted onshaftl I4 and rotatable there'- with (Fig. 8 and Fig. 13) has anabutment I40a adapted to engage lever I3I and may also have an abutmentshown in the form of a set screw I40b adapted 'to engage lever I32. Whenshaft II 4 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction as occurs when theset of levers controlled by bar I II (Fig. 6) is released for operation,the arm I40 swings levers I3I and I32 in a counterclockwise direction tothe positions shown in dotted lines in Figs. 11 and 12 thereby releasingthe selector pattern drum and initiating the racking of the drum by thepawl and ratchet mechanism. The timing of the mechanism controlling thepattern drum will be described below in conjunction with the operationor the machine.

The machine illustrated in the drawings is further provided with meanscontrolled by the main pattern drum for interrupting movement of theselector pattern drum and means controlled by the pattern chain forindependently interrupting movement of the selector pattern diiiIIi. Alever I4I (Figs. '7, 8 and 10) freely rotatable on shaft II4 is adaptedto engage the pawl I0'I to hold the pawl and ratchet mechanism out ofoperation but is normally held out of the path of the pawl by a springI42. The tail portion I4Ia of lever MI is slotted (Fig. '7) to receivethe hooked ends of two Bowden wires I43 and I44. Itwill be seen thatwith the arrangement shown either Bowden wire acting independently canpull the lever I4I into operative position to block the pawl I01 withoutinterference by the other Bowden wire. One Bowden wire I43 is connect-ed to a lifter rod I45 (Fig. 1) adapted to engage and be raised by acam I46 on the main pattern drum 9|. When the lifter rod I45 drops offof cam I46 it pulls Bowden wire I43 and swings lever I4I into a positionto block the action of pawl I01 (solid lines Fig. 10), therebyinterrupting movement of the selector pattern drum I04. It will beunderstood that if lever MI is swung into blocking position at any timeother than when the pawl is at the end of its stroke (Fig. 11) thespring I0Ia of pawl I01 permits the pawl to move past lever I4I to theend of its stroke whereupon the tail of the pawl will swing out andengage lever I4I.

The lever I4I. for interrupting movement of the selector pattern drum isindependently actuated by the Bowden wire I44 which is connected to oneend of a pivoted lever I41 (Fig. 1) the other end of which is adapted tobe engaged by lateral projections on-special links of the pattern chainI48. When the lever I4! rides up on a projecting link, one of which isshown at I48a, it pulls the Bowden wire I44 and swings lever I4I into aposition to block pawl I01 and stop the pattern drum. The timing of theoperation of blocking lever I4I under control of the main pattern drumand the pattern chain will be described below.

The characteristics and capabilities of the machine in accordance withmy invention will be more fully understood from the followingdescription of its operation and the fabric structures produced. Acharacteristic of my machine is that it is capable of producingsuccessive sections of different fabric structures not onlybyindependent control of separate sets of selector levers whereby one setcan be employed in producing one section of fabric and another setemployed to produce a section of entirely difierent fabric structure,but also by controlling individual selector levers of a set wherebysuccessive sections of different fabric structure can be pro duced bylevers of the same set. As it will be understood that by reason of itsversatility the machine in accordance with my invention is capable ofmaking an infinite number of difierent patterns or combinations offabric structure it would be undesirable to attempt to illustrate all ofthem. However, to assist in describing the operation of the machine, Ihave shown in Figs. 19 and 20 an article of hosiery exemplifying thecombinations of fabric structure that can be produced. The article isshown as having an antiravel edge A, a top portion T, a leg portion L, aheel pocket H, a foot F, and a toe packet P. The production of theanti-ravel edge A shown in the form of a tubular welt, requires a 1 x 1needle distribution, 1. e., alternate needles in the upper cylinder andintervening needles in the lower cylinder. The top portion '1 is formedof rib knit fabric with wider ribs than 1 x 1 rib knitting and hencerequires a needle distribution different from that required for, theanti-ravel edge. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 19, the top portion iscomposed of 2 x 2 rib fabric requiring alternate pairs of needles in theupper cylthe feeds.

. i. e., courses -tervening courses, 1. e.,

.the areas D and red design.

iader. The top portion '1 is shown as having an elastic thread Eextending coursewise of the fabric, preferably in spaced courses toincrease its elasticity and recoverability. The leg portion L formedof'Links-Links fabric, i. e., fabric in which individual wales areformed in partof inwardly facing stitches and in part of outwardlyfacing stitches requiring needles to be transferred from one cylinder tothe other in predetermined sequence during the production of successivecourses. Moreover, the Links-Links leg portion is provided with a solidcolor pattern such as diamond D and interrupted vertical stripes formedby prominent solid color stitches V produced by employing a multi-feedmachine and by-passing selected needles at at least one of A section ofthe fabric of the leg portion is shown in Fig. 20 which represents anenlarged'diagrammatic view of the outside of the fabric. In the exampleshown, alternate courses 0!, 05, etc., are formed of a thread trepresented by a heavier line and inare formed of a thread t2,represented. by a lighter lines. The two threads may be alike, in whichcase the fabric will have a decorative embossed effect with no colordesign, or they may differ from one another in material, color, weightor other characteristics. It will be noted that the area D at the lefthand side of Fig. 20 is formed of elongated, i. e. double lengthstitches of thread t only, the other thread t2 being floated behind suchstitches, while the adjacent area B of the fabric is composed ofalternate courses of thread t and thread t2. In a third area at theright hand side of Fig. 20, there are interrupted rows of elongatedstitches V of thread t with thread it floated behind them. Assuming forexample, that thread t is red and thread t2 blue, the background area B,together with wales I0, I2 and I4 will be formed of alternate courses ofred and blue thread, giving a mixed color effect, while the elongatedstitches V will be thread only, providing a solid color Moreover, thebackground area is formed of inwardly facing stitches, while the designportions D and V are formed of elongated outwardly facing stitches,giving an embossed effect, heightening the design. In order to produce aLinks-Links float thread design of the'kind shown in Fig.

knit of red control of separate sets of selector levers in conjunctionwith the control of individual levers of a set in accordance with myinvention makes it possible to achieve this result.

In the example shown in the drawings, the upper ten selector leversconstitute one set and are employed to produce the Links-Links floatthread fabric of the leg portion L. As illustrated in Fig. 17, levers Ito 8 cooperate with selector butts arranged to make the design areaslevers 9 and I0 cooperate with selector butts at corresponding levels toproduce the elongated stitches V. Selector levers II and I2 constitutecourses c2,'c4, cl, etc., I

20, tnetransfer butts of the lower cylinder sliders'are employed leversand D, while v another set and are employed to produce'both theanti-revel edge A andthe 2 x 2 rib top T. At a level corresponding toselector lever II, alternate selectors are provided with butts so thatwhen number 11 lever is in operative position, alternate needlesaretransferred to the lower cylinder and intervening needles remain in theupper cylinder.

At a level corresponding to selector lever I2,

alternate pairs of selectors are provided with butts so that when numberI; lever is in operative position, the needles are positioned forproducing 2x2ribknitting. V

The articles of hosiery illustrated in finished form. in Fig. 19 arepreferably produced by string work, by which is meant that the articlesare produced as a continuous string of socks which are thereaftersevered from one another and the lever during the knitting of aplurality of courses of 1 each article. The projections short section ofand completed by closing the toe pocket. .Between successive articles onthe 'string there is'a fabric termed a loopers edge which facilitatesplacingthe article on a looping machine to close the toe pocket and issubsequently cut or raveled off. The loopers edge is ordinarily producedby feeding thread at the main knitting station N with all the lowercylinder warm plain knit fabric. During the knitting of the looper'sedge, the selector pattern drum I04 ls racked idly around until theindexing lever III (Fig. 8). drops into notch N in disc I30. Thisorientsthe, selector pattern drum toproper position for starting each ofsuccessive articles produced by the machine I3I holds the drum in thisposition Illla (Figs. 4 and 5) on the pattern drum are so arranged thatwith thedrum in its, starting position, selector lever transfer all oftheneedles number II is permitted to drop into operative position, whileselector lever number I2 is held out by a projection on the patterndrum. However, all selector levers are still held out by blocking bars"Band III! (Figs. 4 to 6). 7 On the first move of the main pattern drumSI, (Fig. 1) the lower transfer cam I6 (Fig. ismoved in to to the uppercylinder, and blocking bar I I0 (Figs. 5 and 6) is withdrawn to permitthe operation of the set of selector levers composed of levers II andI2. As lever number I2 is held out by a projection'on selector patterndrum I04, only lever II- drops into operative position and acts on theselector butts at number I I level (Fig. 15) to retransfer every otherneedle to the lower cylinder. This results in positioning alternateneedles in the upper cylinder and intermediate needles in the lowercylinder. The feeding of thread at the main knitting station iscontinued so that as soon as the first of the transferred needlesreaches the main feeding station, the needles in the upper and lowercylinders will coact to produce 1 x l rib knitting. Cam 5| is inoperative position, causing the knitting butts of the lowersliders toride up over the clearing cam 52, while shunt cam is in inoperativeposition, allowing the knitting butts of tilt upper sliders to beby-passed through racewa: 8!, these cams having been moved to'theirrespec tive positions during the knitting of the precedin; sock. At anytime after the first of the trans ferred needles reaches the secondfeeding statior cam 13 is moved in against the ends of the shor knittingbutts of the lower sliders and picks u the first of the long knittingbutts whereupon th cam completes its movementinto operative posi tion.The knitting butts of the lower sliders wi now ride down'the face of cam13 and undl of the needles in completion of the welt.

stitch cam 14. As the first of the knitting butts engage draw down camI3, a draw thread feed finger is moved into operative position at thesecond feeding station. By referring to Fig. 15 it will be seen thatwhereas the thread at the main feeding station is fed to and knit by theneedles of both cylinders, the draw thread fed at the second knittingstation is received and knit by lower cylinder needles only, the uppercylinder needles being by-passed at a higher level, so that they did nottake the draw thread, but retained, the stitches drawn at; the mainfeeding station. This results in the draw thread being knit at alternateneedles only of the fabric. Any desired number of draw thread coursesmay be produced, but one and a half courses will ordinaril besufficient. Thereupon the draw thread feed finger is withdrawn. At aboutthe same time the lower transfer cam I6 is also withdrawn.

On the next move of the main pattern drum, the welt or clearing cam-93is withdrawn and the leveling cam IUI is raised up so that the knittingbutts of the upper sliders pass through raceways 84' and 84, carryingthe upper cylinder needles high so that they do not knit but hold theirstitches. The thread fed at the main feeding station is thus taken andknit by the lower cylinder needles only to produce a. plurality of weltcourses. After a sufficient number of such courses have been knit, thewelt cam 93 is moved to operative position and the leveling cam I III isbrought down, causing the upper cylinder needles to again knit, therebytying in the previously held stitches and completing the tubular welt.

Several courses before the welt is completed, the main pattern drum ismoved to cause lever I31 (Fig. 1) to ride up on cam I38 actuating leverI34 to swing indexing lever I3I out of the notch N and at the same timeswinging blockinglever I32 out of engagement with the pawl I01. Theselector pattern drum I 04 is thereby released and again starts racking.The selector'pattern drum will continue to rack one step forward eachrevolution of the needle cylinders until the notch N2 in disc I30 isbrought into registry with lever I3I which dropped into the notch andthereby stopped the drum. The timing is such that lever I3I reaches thenotch N2 at, or shortly after the The projections IMa in the selectorpattern drum are arranged to hold selector lever I2 out of operation andlever II in operation while the drum'is stationary at notch N and duringall but the last of the moves between notches N and N2. On the lastmove, as the notch N2 reaches lever Bi, 9. projection IMa on theselector pattern drum I04 withdraws lever I Iand lever I 2 is permittedto drop into operative position.

At approximately the same time that the selector pattern drum reachesand is stopped at the point determined by lever I3I dropping into notchN2, the lower transfer cam I6 is again moved to operative position. Thistransfers all of the needles to the upper cylinder and everyother pairis retransferred by selector lever I2 resulting in positioning alternatepairs of needles in the upper cylinder with intermediate needles in thelower cylinder (Fig. 16) for the production of the 2 x 2 rib top portionT. It will be understood that by different arrangement of the selectorbutts 431) at number I2 level, any other rib fabric such as 1 x 2 or 2 x3 rib could be produced. After downwardly by the elastic thread on tothe web formed that alternate pairs, of stitches of fabric thread 9selector pattern drum IN is held stationary by indexing lever I3I, the 2x 2 or other needle distribution set up by selector lever I2 will bemaintained throughout the knitting of the top. Thus, by reason of theaction of indexing lever I3I in holding the selector pattern drum at itsinitial position during the knitting of a plurality of courses beforereleasing it, and again stopping, thepattern drum at the pointdetermined by the position of notch'N2, the pattern drum maintains firstselector lever l I and later selector lever I2 in operative position tomaintain the same needle selection during theknitting of a number ofcourses greater than the number of steps, the pattern drum is moved.

The 2 x 2 rib knit top portion may be produced by either single feed or.multi-feed knitting and elastic thread may be incorporated in successiveor spaced qourse's. As illustrated in Fig. .16, fabric thread is fedatthe main feeding station .44 to both upperandlower cylinderneedles,-while elastic thread is fed-to upper cylinder needles only atthe second feeding station 46, the lower cylinder needles beingby-passed at the second feeding station by the withdrawal 'of shunt cam54 so that the knitting butts .of the lower cylinder sliders f passthrough race-way 53. With the arrangement shown the descending cam 82 inthe upper cam block is so positioned'that the upper cylinder needles arenot lowered to clearing position after drawing'stitches at the mainfeeding station.

Hence, the stitches of fabric threadformed at the main feeding stationwill be retained in the hooks of the upper cylinder needles and will notbe cast off when the needles are drawn up by stitch cam 92 to form loopsof the elastic thread thereby drawing off a measured amount of elasticthread from the feed finger 46. After passing the second feedingstation, the are moved downwardly to clearing position by cam 93,placing the elastic thread received at the second feeding station andthe fabric thread received at the main feeding'station behind, i. e.,above the, latches of the needles. When the needles again reach the mainfeeding station, they draw new loops-of the fabric thread casting offthe previously drawn loops and dumping the by the fact are drawnupwardly by the upper cylinder needles while intervening pairs ofstitches are drawn lower cylinder needles. Thus, the elastic threadafter being measured by being drawn into loops by the upper cylinderneedles at the second feeding station is incorporated in the fabric bybeing laid in between the inwardly facing stitches of fabric threadformed by the upper cylinder needles and the outwardly facing stitchesformed by the lower cylinder needles.

If it is desired to produce the top T'by multie feed knitting, fabricthread is fed at both feeding stations and shunt cams 54 and 85 are bothin operative position so that both the upper and lower cylinderneedlesreceive and knit the second thread. It will be understood thatwith this elastic feed, the elastic-threadwill automatically at leastone revolution of the needle cylinder, the 7 be incorporated in spaced,i. e., alternate courses of the fabric.

Upon completion of the top portion T, the set of upper cylinder needlesvaccomplished by rotation of shaft H4 in a counterclockwise direction.This rotation of shaft 4 swings arm I40 (Fig. 8) in a counterclockwisedirection, withdrawing indexing lever I3I from the notch N2 of disc I30and also withdrawing blocking lever- I32 outof the path of pawl I01 asexplained above. The selector pattern drum I04 is thereby released andresumes its step'by step movement under the action of pawl I01 andratchet I06. The projections I04a on pattern drum I04at levelscorresponding-to selector levers I to were arranged to move these leversinto and out of operative position in predetermined sequence topr oducethe desiredlinks-links fabric of the leg portion L. For'example, in Fig.20 courses c and c2 (producedsimultaneously in two feed work) are knitwith" selector levers I and 9 in operative position, while courses c3and 04 are knit with selector levers 2 and Min operas tive position. Anydesired pattern may be set up by suitable arrangement of the selectorbutts.

43b and the projections I 04a on the pattern drum. To produce the legportion of the sock shown in Figs. 19 and 20 the'upper shunt cam 05 isin operative position and the cam82 is positioned to lower the needlesto clearing position so that the upper cylinder needles will take andseparately knit threads fed at the respective feeding stations. Shuntcam 54 is withdrawn permitting the knitting butts of the lower cylindersliders to pass through race-way 53. However, the pas sage of knittingbutts through this race-way is controlled by selecting cam 63 which isin operative position and is adapted to engage long trans-' fer buttsprovided on selected ones of the lower 7 'cylindensliders-to raise saidsliders sufficiently that their knitting butts will ride up the face ofclearing cam 52, thereby raising the respective needles to clearingposition. Other sliders having shorter transfer-butts will not be raisedby selector cam 53 and their knitting butts will pass through race-way53. The 'needles that are raised by selecting cam 63 and clearingcam 52to clearing position will take the thread fed at the second feedingstation while the needles corresponding to sliders, the knitting buttsof which are by-passed through race-way 53' past thefeeding station attoo low a level to receive the second thread and retain their stitchesof the thread received and knit at the main feeding station.

It will be observed that draw down cam 1.3 isdn being controlled 'by thelengths of thelower transfer butts and the position of selecting cam 53.i Where it is desired to knit Links-Links fabric on one side of theneedle cylinder and plain knit fabric on the opposite side, as forexample in knitting the soles (Fig. 19) or a plain knit portion'Hf abovethe heel, the transfer butts may be made of three different lengths,long and medium butts being provided on one side of the cylinder, i. e.,the sole side and long and short butts being provided on the other sideof the cylinder, 1. e., the instep side.

To produce the plain knit portionfi' at the top of the heel, commonlyreferred to as a high splice, auxiliary transfer cam 95 (Fig. 18) ismoved in part way to transfer allof the needles on one. side only of theneedle cylinder to the lower cylinder and selecting cam 83 is moved infar enough to engage the long and the medium transfer butts. Thus, onone side of the needle cylinder all of the needles are in the lowercylinder and are raised by cam 60 so as to produce two feed plainknitting, while on .the othervside of the cylinder the needles continueto produce Links-Links fabric, at least certain of the lower 7 cylinderneedles, namely those having extra short butts being by-passed at thesecond feed.

At the beginning of the heel pocket H produced by reciprocation of theneedle cylinder, the lifter rod I45 drops off of cam I40 (Fig. 1)pulling on Bowden wire I43 and swinging lever I4I into a' position toblock pawl I01 (FigL'lO) The selector pattern drum I04 is therebystopped. Upon completion of the heel pocket, the rod I45 rides up onanother section of cam I46,'causing lever I4I to swing to a position(Fig. 8) to release the pawl so that the step by step movement of thepattern drum is resumed. The sole portion- S is produced inthe samemanner as the high splice H, the sole being formed of plain knitting andtheinstep I continuin the'Links-Links pattern. If, on completion of t einstep I it is, desired to produce a plain knit toe band Pf, theauxiliary transfer cam '00 (Fig. 18) is moved in all the. way i I totransfer all of the needles to the lower cylinder and shunt cam 54 ismoved to operative po- I sition so thatall of the needles will knit-atboth operation by blocking bar H0. The toe pocket 'P is produced in thesame manner as the heel operative position so that theneedles that haveI been raised by earns 63 and 52 will be drawn down by cam 13 and switchcam 14 to draw stitches of the second thread and cast on the .previouslydrawn stitches of the thread knit at I the main feeding station. Thus,the thread fed needles, the'selective by-passing of the needles pocket Hand is followed by a loopers edge produced in a manner similar to thetoe band P. During the knitting of the toe band and the loopers edge,the selector pattern drum I04 is racked idly, i. e., without operationof the se-' lector levers since all ofthe levers are held out ofoperation by blocking bars I09 and H0 until the indexing lever I3I dropsinto notch N' of disc I30. .This orients the selector pattern drum toproper starting position for the next sock, I

As the selector pattern drum has only a limited number of moves and willhence repeat the pattern after a corresponding number of courses, it issometimes desirable to stop the drum momentarily where twoor morecourses in a pattern are alike in order to lengthen the to swing theblockinglever I4I into a position v to engage pawl I01 and interrupt themovement of the selector pattern drum. As the pattern chain iscustomarily moved one-half link each revolution of the needle cylinder,the required number of special links can be inserted in the chain toobtain the results desired.

While reference has been made to a specific article to explain theoperation of my machine, it will be understood that by reason of itsnovel structure and operation the machine iscapable of producing aninfinite number of difierent combinations of fabric structure and is inno way limited to the production of the particular article illustratedin the drawings.

What I claim and desire to secure'by Letters the selector levers nto andout of operative position in predetermined order, means forindependently controlling separate sets of selector sition during theknitting of a plurality of courses at the beginning of each article andthereupon releasing the pattern' drum, and means for interrupting therotation of the pattern drum after knitting a predetermined'number ofcourses. l

4. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other andselect'ors associated with the needles and .having selector butts atdifierent levels, the combination of a plurality of sets of selectorlevers movable into'operative position to act on selector butts of saidselectors to transfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to theother, a pattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out ofoperative position, one set of selector levers being actuated to produceLinks-Links fabric and another set comprising a lever for position ingalternate needles in the upper cylinder and a lever for positioningselected needles in the upper cylinder to produce rib knitting otherthan 1 ,x 1 rib, means for independently controlling said separate setsof selector leve-rsto maintain levers to maintain one set of leversinoperative while levers of another set are moved into and out ofoperative position, driving mechanism for the pattern drum, means fororienting the pattern drum to the proper position for starting each.ofsuccessive articles produced on the machine and means for stopping thepatern drum at predetermined points during the knitting of each articleto maintain the same needle selection for a plurality of courses.

2. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to theother andselectors associated with the needles and having selector butts atdifferent levels, the combination of selector levers movable intooperative position to act on selector butts of said selectors totransfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, apattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operativeposition in predetermined order, means for independently controllingseparate sets of selector levers to maintain one set of leversinoperative while levers of another set are'moved into operativeposition, driving mechanism for the pattern drum, means for orientingthe pattern drum to proper posione set of levers inoperative Whilelevers of another set are moved into operative position and means forinterrupting movement of the pattern drum to hold an-individual selectorlever in operative position during the knitting of a pluralityofcourses. I

5. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other andcontrbl mechanism comprising a main pattern drum' and a pattern chain,the combination of selectors associated with the needles and havingselector butts at different levels, selector levers movable intooperative position to act on selector butts of said selectors totransfer selected needles from one needle cylinder to the other, apattern drum for moving the selector levers into and out of operativeposition, driving mechanism for said tion for starting each ofsuccessive articles produced and means for holding the pattern drum insaid position during the knitting of a plurality cl courses at thebeginning of each article and thereupon releasing the pattern drum.

3. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other andselectors associated with the needles and having selector butts atdifferent levels, the combination of selector levers arranged atcorresponding levels and movable ,into operative position to act on theselector butts of said selectors, a pattern drum for moving the selectorlevers into and out of operative position in predetermined order, meansfor independently controlling separate sets of selector levers tomaintain one set of levers inoperative while levers of another set aremoved into operative-position, driving mechanism for the pattern drum,means for orienting the pattern drum to proper position for-startingeach of successive articles produced by the machine and holding thepattern drum in said poselector pattern drum, means controlled by themain pattern dr um for interrupting movement of the selector patterndrum and means controlled by the pattern chain for independentlyinterrupting movement of the selector pattern drum.

6. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other andpattern mechanism controlling operation oithe machine, the combinationof selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts atdifferentlevels,- selector levers movable into operative position to acton selector butts of said selectors to transfer selected needles fromone needle cylinder to the other, a pattern drum for moving the selectorlevers into and out of operative position, driving mechanism for saidselector pattern drum, means for stopping the selector pattern drum inpredetermined positions, means for independently holding separate setsof said selector levers out of operative position, means for releasingthe selector pattern drum and one set of selector levers and meanscontrolled by the main pattern mechanism for independently v releasingthe selector pattern drum.

7. In a circular knitting machine having coaxial superposed needlecylinders, needles transferable from one cylinder to the other andpattern mechanism controlling operation of the machine, the combinationof selectors associated with the needles and having selector butts atdifferent levels, selector levers movable into op-

